SYDNEY, N.S. — After dodging most of what Mother Nature has doled out so far this winter, Cape Breton finally looks like a winter wonderland.
According to SaltWire chief meteorologist Cindy Day, the quick-moving storm that raced across Atlantic Canada over parts of Sunday and Monday dropped about 37 cm of snow over the Sydney area with measurements, including 30 cm in Sydney Mines, 28 cm in Eskasoni and 24 cm in Cheticamp, varying across the rest of Cape Breton.
Day added that despite the official snowfall measurements she still regularly hears from residents who report much greater or lesser amounts than was forecast. And, she said that has everything to do with high winds such as those that accompanied the latest storm.
“The drifting makes it hard to measure,” acknowledged Day. “Some people will say they got lots more and others say they didn’t get that much. It’s all about wind direction and which way your house faces and what kind of sheltering is in place.”
The blizzard-like conditions led to widespread cancellations, closures and service disruptions across Cape Breton. All schools and post-secondary institutions were closed, Transit Cape Breton buses were pulled off their routes and motorists were urged to stay off roads, streets and highways due to snow drifts, blowing snow and poor visibility.
Despite the heavy snowfall, Ski Ben Eoin shut down operations on Monday due to unsafe operating conditions due to the high winds and blowing snow. The hill is expected to be open for business on Tuesday.
And while the heavy snowfall was good news for winter recreational enthusiasts, Day said the even better news is that the snow will stick around. She said consistent below-freezing temperatures over the next week will help preserve the suddenly pristine snowscape.
“Winter is here – there is no sign of a meltdown,” declared Day, who offered up a Cape Breton-tailored forecast for the rest of the week.
“While there is no true system expected for the rest of the week and into the weekend, there will be some snow squalls, some flurries here and there of 1-3 cm, with temperatures well-below normal so we’re going to keep the snow we have now and we’re going to keep whitening it up a bit with some snow squalls as a strong west wind lingers.”
She added that the below-freezing temperatures combined with the high winds will mean a few days of significant wind chill.
Day said snowfall across the region could have been much heavier if the weather system had tracked slower on what turned out to be a rather quick journey across the Atlantic provinces.
“We ended up with a good amount of snow, but had this not been racing so fast across the region then our snowfall totals would have been amazing,” surmised Day.
This week’s storm comes five weeks after a Nova Scotia-high 32 cm of snow was recorded at Sydney’s J.A. Douglas McCurdy Airport after the first region’s first blast of winter on Jan. 2.
David Jala is a municipal politics and features reporter at the Cape Breton Post.
